New York man gets 3 years in scheme to use fake credit cards at Maine Mall

PORTLAND, Maine — A third New York man was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to federal prison for being involved in a 2011 scheme to purchase items at the Maine Mall and nearby stores using some of the the 188 fake credit cards found in the car they were using.

Michael Barnes, 34, was sentenced to three years in federal prison on one count each of conspiracy to possess 15 or more counterfeit access devices and possession of 15 or more counterfeit devices and three counts of use of one or more counterfeit access devices. He pleaded guilty to all five charges in May.

In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge George Singal ordered Barnes to pay one-third of more than $8,700 in restitution with his co-defendants. The judge also sentence Barnes to three years of supervised release.

Woodcock ordered that Barnes serve his federal sentence after he completes a seven-year sentence he is serving in New York state on unrelated charges that include convictions for burglary and gun possession.

Barnes, Esley Porteous, 29, and Terrell Campbell, 27, all of Brooklyn, N.Y., were stopped May 21, 2011, by Scarborough and South Portland police, according to court documents. The trio had 160 fake credit cards in the name of Shawn Collins in the glove compartment of the car and a fake Illinois driver’s license with photos of each of the defendants on them.

The men used the cards to make purchases at GameStop, Sally Beauty Supply, AT&T and Bull Moose Music in Scarborough and at Toys R Us and Babies R Us in South Portland, according to the prosecution versions of events to which each man pleaded guilty separately.

Barnes’ case was delayed until 2013 while New York charges were resolved. His sentence was longer than his two co-defendants because he has a longer criminal record, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The maximum penalty faced by the defendants was 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the credit card fraud charge.